ASIAN REGIONAL OFFICE REPRESENTATIVE

MISSISSIPPI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
RFP RFx Number: 3120003342
Asian Regional Office Representative
CLOSING TIME AND DATE
Proposals must be received by:
Friday, July 24, 2026, 10:00 AM CDT
LOCATION
Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration
Office of Statewide Strategic Sourcing
501 North West Street, Suite 1301 C
Jackson, Mississippi 39201
PROPOSAL COORDINATOR
Shannon Smith, Statewide
Procurement Analyst Office of
Statewide Strategic Sourcing
Telephone (601) 359-3451
E-mail: osss@dfa.ms.gov

SECTION 1: Procurement Process
1.1 Background
The Office of Statewide Strategic Sourcing ("OSSS"), on behalf of the Mississippi
Development Authority ("MDA") (hereinafter "Agency") has issued this solicitation for the
purpose of soliciting sealed proposals from qualified providers for the purpose of serving as a
professional services consultant to provide MDA with full-time representation in Asia (focused
primarily on, but not limited to, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and
India) to recruit foreign direct investment to Mississippi and to promote the export of
Mississippi products to Asia.
MDA would like to have a professional services consultant which would focus on recruiting
Asian firms in the automotive, aerospace, defense, and advanced manufacturing sectors and
associated supply chains as primary targets for recruitment. Other industries for recruitment
include metals, chemicals and energy, food processing, warehousing and distribution, and
forestry. The Contractor will also work on behalf of the MDA and Mississippi businesses to
expand market opportunities for the export of Mississippi products and services from a wide
range of industries to Asia.
This service will include (i) developing knowledge of Mississippi assets with respect to
geography, existing industries, exporters, communities and industrial sites, workforce, research
assets and incentives and (ii) developing a recruitment plan and an export promotion plan in
partnership with the Authority based on the target sectors to include business missions, virtual
business missions, a calling program to meet with existing and new investors, seminars,
exhibitions, and other activities for the recruitment and identification of prospective investors.
1.2 Procurement Timeline
Event Date/Time
Request for Proposals Issue Date 06/17/2026
Questions and Requests for Clarification 06/30/2026
Anticipated Posting of Written Responses 07/13/2026
Required Letter of Intent Deadline 07/17/2026 at 10:00 AM CDT
Proposal Package Submission Deadline 07/24/2026 at 10:00 AM CDT
Proposal Opening/Evaluation: 07/27/2026
Anticipated Notice of Intent to Award 08/19/2026
Request PPRB Board Meeting Agenda 09/02/2026
PPRB Meeting for Approval 10/07/2026
Note: Agency reserves the right to adjust this schedule as it deems necessary. Agency may also
change the dates of the initial contract term without amendment to this RFP.
1.3 OPSCR Rules and Regulations
This solicitation and any resulting contract shall be governed by the applicable provisions of
the Public Procurement Review Board (PPRB) Office of Personal Services Contract Review
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(OPSCR) Rules and Regulations, a copy of which is available on the Mississippi Department
of Finance and Administration's website (www.dfa.ms.gov). Any offeror responding to this
solicitation is deemed to be on notice of all requirements therein.
1.4 Reconsideration of the Terms of the Solicitation
Any potential offeror may file a Request for Reconsideration of the Terms of the Solicitation.
Any such request shall be filed within three (3) business days following public notice of the
solicitation and in accordance with Section 6.5.4 of the OPSCR Rules and Regulations.
1.5 Questions and Requests for Clarification
Offerors must carefully review this solicitation, the Contract, any risk management provisions,
and all attachments for defects, questionable, or objectionable material. Following review,
vendors may have questions to clarify or interpret the RFP in order to submit the best proposal
possible. To accommodate questions and requests for clarification, offerors shall submit any
such question(s) via email by the deadline reflected in the Section 1.2 Procurement Timeline.
All questions and requests for clarification must be directed by email to Shannon Smith at:
Shannon Smith, OSSS, Proposal Coordinator
Telephone: (601) 359-3451
E-mail: osss@dfa.ms.gov
When submitting questions and requests for clarification, "Asian Regional Office
Representative RFP RFx # 3120003342 - Questions"," should be the subject of the email.
Question submittals should include a reference to the applicable RFP section and be submitted
in the format shown below:
No. RFP Section, Page No. Question/Request for Clarification
1.
1.5.1 Official responses will be provided only for questions submitted as described above and
only to clarify information already included in the RFP. The identity of the organization
submitting the question(s) will not be revealed. All questions and answers will be
published on the Mississippi Contract/Procurement Opportunity Search Portal website
and the agency's website as an amendment to the RFP by the date and time reflected in
Section 2.
1.5.2 The Agency will not be bound by any verbal or written information not contained within
this RFP unless formally noticed and issued by the contact person as an RFP
amendment. Offerors are cautioned that any statements made by agency personnel that
materially change any portion of the proposal document shall not be relied upon unless
subsequently ratified by a formal written amendment to the proposal document.
1.5.3 All vendor communications regarding this RFP must be directed to the Proposal
Coordinator.
1.6 Restrictions on Communication with Agency Staff
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At no time shall any offeror or its personnel contact, or attempt to contact, any Agency/OSSS
staff regarding this RFP except the RFP Coordinator listed on the cover page of this RFP in the
manner prescribed in Section 1.5. Unauthorized contact regarding the RFP with other
employees of the agency/OSSS may result in the potential offeror being disqualified, and the
potential offeror may also be suspended or disbarred from the State.
1.7 Cancellation of Solicitation or Rejection of Individual Proposals
At the Agency's sole discretion, an RFP may be canceled or any or all responses to the
solicitation may be rejected, in whole or in part, when the Agency determines that it is in the
Agency's best interest to do so.
MDA reserves the right to reject any and all proposals during any step of the procurement
process, even after negotiations have begun. Agency reserves the right to reject any and all
proposals if the Offeror takes exception to the terms and conditions of the RFP and/or fails to
meet the terms and conditions and/or in any way attempts to limit the rights of Agency and/or
the State of Mississippi, including but not limited to, the required contractual terms and
provisions set forth in this RFP.
Reasons for rejecting individual proposals or qualifications include but are not limited to:
The Agency may reject proposals that do not conform to the requirements outlined in this RFP.
Proposals may be rejected for reasons which include, but are not limited to, the following:
* the proposal or qualification was non-responsive to the solicitation;
* the offeror is deemed non-responsible;
* the proposal or qualification fails to meet the requirements of the Agency;
* the proposed price is clearly unreasonable;
* lack of competitiveness by reason of collusion or knowledge that reasonably available
competition did not occur.
* Any other reason the agency determines to be in the best interest of the State.
Proposals that include terms and conditions that do not conform to the terms and conditions in
the RFP document are subject to rejection as non-responsive. Further, submission of proposals
that are not complete and/or signed is subject to rejection as non-responsive. The Agency
reserves the right to permit the offeror to withdraw nonconforming terms and conditions from
its proposals prior to a determination by the Agency staff of non-responsiveness based on the
submission of nonconforming terms and conditions. Furthermore, if an offeror's price is
substantially higher than those of other offerors, meaning those in excess of a twenty-five
percent (25%) differential, the offeror's price may be deemed non-responsive.
1.8 Expenses Incurred in the Procurement Process
All parties participating in the procurement process with regard to this solicitation shall bear
their own costs of participation, pursuant to Section 1.4.4 of the Public Procurement Review
Board Office of Personal Services Contract Review Rules and Regulations.
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1.9 Trade Secrets, Commercial, and Financial Information Public Record Exemption
Any offeror claiming that its response contains information exempt from the Mississippi Public
Records Act (Miss. Code Ann. 25-61-9, 75-26-1 through 75-26-19, and/or 79-23-1), must
submit a second copy of the proposal document in which all information offeror deems to be
confidential commercial and financial information and/or trade secrets is redacted in black.
Offeror shall also provide a document stating the specific statutory authority for each
redaction/exemption. Offeror may be subject to exclusion pursuant to Chapter 15 of the OPSCR
Rules and Regulations if the Agency or the PPRB determine that redactions made by the offeror
were made in bad faith in order to prohibit public access to the portions of the proposal which
are not subject to Miss. Code Ann. 25-61-9, 75-26-1 through 75-26-19, and/or 79-23-1. The
redacted version of the proposal, or if an offeror does not produce a redacted version, the full
proposal document, will be released at the Agency's sole discretion, without notice to the
offeror and will be produced as a public record exactly as submitted.
1.10 Registration with Mississippi Secretary of State
By submitting a proposal, the Offeror certifies that it is registered to do business in the State of
Mississippi as prescribed by Mississippi law and the Mississippi Secretary of State or, if not
already registered, that it will do so within five (5) business days of being notified by the agency
that it has been selected for contract award. Sole proprietors are not required to register with
the Mississippi Secretary of State.
1.11 Debarment
By submitting a proposal, the offeror certifies that it is not currently debarred from submitting
proposals for contracts issued by any political subdivision or agency of the State of Mississippi
or federal government and that it is not an agent of a person or entity that is currently debarred
from submitting proposals for contracts issued by any political subdivision or agency of the
State of Mississippi or federal government.
1.12 Offeror Investigations
Before submitting a proposal, each offeror shall make all investigations and examinations
necessary to ascertain all site conditions and requirements affecting the full performance of the
contract and to verify any representations made by the Agency upon which they will rely. If the
offeror receives an award as a result of its proposal submission, failure to have made such
investigations and examinations will in no way relieve the offeror from its obligation to comply
in every detail with all provisions and requirements of the contract documents, nor will a plea
of ignorance of such conditions and requirements be accepted as a basis for any claim
whatsoever for additional compensation.
1.13 Certification of Independent Price Determination
By submitting a proposal, the offeror certifies that the prices submitted in response to the
solicitation have been arrived at independently and without any, consultation, communication,
or agreement with any other offeror or competitor for the purpose of restricting competition.
1.14 Offeror Certification
Offeror agrees that submission of a signed proposal, fee schedule, and BAFO (if requested),
is certification that Offeror will accept an award made to it as a result of the submission. Under
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no circumstances shall the maximum time for proposal acceptance by the State extend beyond
one (1) year from the opening date.
1.15 Registration with Mississippi's Accountability System for Governmental Information
and Collaboration (MAGIC)
If the offeror is not already registered as a supplier in MAGIC, the offeror should register as
a supplier with the State of Mississippi. Registering as a supplier with the State of MS allows
businesses to register for upcoming opportunity notifications by the products they supply,
search the system for upcoming solicitations, respond to solicitations electronically, and
receive purchase orders via e-mail.
Offerors can complete the registration at the following link: http://www.dfa.ms.gov/dfa-
offices/mmrs/mississippi-suppliershttp://www.dfa.ms.gov/dfa-offices/mmrs/mississippi-
suppliers-vendors/supplier-self-service/vendors/supplier-self-service/. Any questions
regarding registration in MAGIC should be directed to the Mississippi Management and
Reporting System (MMRS) staff by emailing mash@dfa.ms.gov or calling 601-359-1343.
1.16 Discussions with Offerors
Discussions may be conducted to promote understanding of the Agency's requirements and the
offeror's proposal, or to facilitate arriving at a contract that will be most advantageous to the
Agency. The Offeror may update its proposal to reflect clarifications needed following
discussions.
Discussions may be conducted with offerors who submit proposals determined to be reasonably
susceptible of being selected for award; however, proposals may also be accepted without such
discussions. Agency reserves the right to accept any proposal as submitted for contract award,
without substantive negotiation of proposed terms, services or prices. For these reasons, all
parties are advised to propose their most favorable terms initially.
1.17 Solicitation Document
The RFP is comprised of the RFP document, any attachments, any amendments issued prior to
the submission deadline, and any other documents released before the contract award. The
attachments to this RFP are made a part of this RFP as if copied herein in words and figures.
1.18 Amendments
Agency reserves the right to amend the contents of this RFP as it deems necessary. This RFP,
all questions, requests for clarification, and answers, and any other amendments will be
published on the Mississippi Contract/Procurement Opportunity Search Portal and the Agency
website in a manner that all offerors will be able to view. It is the sole responsibility of the
offeror to monitor the agency website and the procurement portal for amendments to the RFP
to ensure their proposal complies with any such amendments.
1.19 Acknowledgement of Amendments
Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to the RFP in writing. The
acknowledgement shall be submitted by signing and returning the amendment with the
proposals package, by identifying the amendment number and date in the space provided for
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this purpose on the proposal form, or by letter. Each offeror shall submit a written
acknowledgment of every amendment to the OSSS on or before the submission deadline.
Written acknowledgement of all amendments to the RFP shall be received from all offerors
prior to the issuance of the Notice of Intent to Award. Offerors who do not provide the Agency
acknowledgement of every amendment issued may be deemed non-responsive and not eligible
for award.
1.20 Minor Informalities and Irregularities
The MDA has the right to waive minor defects or variations of a proposal from the exact
requirements of the specifications that do not affect the price, quality, quantity, delivery, or
performance time of the services being procured and if doing so does not create an unfair
advantage for any offeror. If insufficient information is submitted by an offeror for the MDA
to properly evaluate the offer, the MDA has the right to require such additional information as
it may deem necessary after the submission deadline, provided that the information requested
does not change the price, quality, quantity, delivery, or performance time of the services being
procured and such request does not create an unfair advantage for any offeror.
1.21 Right to Reject Proposals
Agency reserves the right to reject any and all proposals during any step of the procurement
process, even after negotiations have begun. Agency reserves the right to reject any and all
proposals if the Offeror takes exception to the terms and conditions of the RFP and/or fails to
meet the terms and conditions and/or in any way attempts to limit the rights of Agency and/or
the State of Mississippi, including but not limited to, the required contractual terms and
provisions set forth in this RFP.
1.22 No Obligation to Contract
The release of this RFP does not constitute an acceptance of any submitted proposals, nor does
such release in any way obligate the Agency to execute a contract with any offeror. Agency
reserves the right to accept, reject, or negotiate any and all offers on the basis of the evaluation
criteria contained within this document. The final decision to execute a contract with any party
rests solely with the Agency including the decision to make no contract award.
1.23 Contract Formation
This RFP and any amendments, the offeror's proposal, including, and Offeror's Best and Final
Offer (as applicable) shall be incorporated into the successful offeror's contract.
1.23.1 Type of Contract
Compensation for services under a contract resulting from this RFP will be in the form
of a firm-fixed price agreement.
1.23.2 Contract Rights
Contract rights do not vest in any party until a contract is legally executed. The MDA
is under no obligation to award a contract following issuance of this solicitation.
1.23.3 Property Rights
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Property rights do not inure to any offeror until such time as services have been provided
under a legally executed contract. No party responding to this RFP has a legitimate
claim of entitlement to be awarded a contract or to the provision of work thereunder.
The MDA is under no obligation to award a contract and may terminate a legally
executed contract at any time.
1.23.4 Pre-Contract Work at Offeror's Risk
Any work performed by the awarded Offeror prior to the start date of a valid, executed
contract is done at Offeror's sole risk. The State is under no obligation to pay for work
performed prior to contract start date.
1.23.5 Standard Independent Contractor Agreement
A draft Contract has been included as Attachment G to this RFP for your review.
Any contract entered into with the Agency pursuant to this RFP shall include clauses
required pursuant to the PPRB OPSCR Rules and Regulations as updated and
replaced by PPRB. These required clauses are mandatory and are nonnegotiable. For
your convenience, the required clauses, and other clauses MDA cannot modify, are
in bold headings in the sample agreement.
1.23.6 Exceptions to the Standard Terms
MDA discourages exceptions to the draft contract content, regardless of whether the
contract clause is required or not. Such exceptions may cause proposals to be rejected
as non-responsive. Proposals which condition the proposal based upon the State
accepting other terms and conditions not found in the RFP, or which take exception
to the State's terms and conditions, may be found non-responsive, and no further
consideration of the proposals will be given.
1.23.7 Term
The initial term of the contract resulting from the RFP shall be for a period of two (2)
years and will begin upon PPRB contract approval and execution by both parties. At
its sole discretion, MDA reserves the right to renew the contract in any combination
for up to thirty-six (36) months at the same rate(s) bid.
1.24 General References Throughout the RFP
This RFP, any amendment thereto, such as Questions and Answer document(s) and Summary
of Pre-Proposals Conference, Tour, or Site Visit, if any were issued, the Notice of Intent to
Award, and the Evaluation Report will be posted on the Agency website at
http://www.mississippi.org, or http://www.mississippi.org/about/competitive-procurements/.
Throughout this document, the various references below refer to the webpages or documents
found at the specified link:
* "The MDA/Agency website" refers to the website found at http://www.mississippi.org,
http://www.mississippi.org/about/competitive-procurements/
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* "The Mississippi Contract/Procurement Opportunity Search Portal" or "the
procurement portal" refers to the website found at
https://www.ms.gov/dfa/contract_bid_search/Home/Buy
* "The Public Procurement Review Board Office of Personal Service Contract Review
Rules and Regulations" or "the PPRB OPSCR Rules and Regulations" refers to the rules
and regulations found at https://www.dfa.ms.gov/personal-service-contract-review.
1.25 News Releases
The MDA is the only entity authorized to issue news releases relating to this RFP, its evaluation,
and award of any contract and performance thereunder.
1.26 Ownership of Materials
MDA shall own all materials and data produced for the Agency under a contract resulting from
this RFP unless otherwise agreed to in writing.
1.27 Benefit
Any information obtained by the Contractor(s) as a result of a contract with MDA resulting
from this RFP is for the benefit and use of MDA, its constituents/clients, and the Contractor as
it relates to the Contractor's work for MDA and this project. This contract and any information
obtained as a result of this contract with MDA should not be used by the Contractor for the
benefit of the Contractor or any third party or person not associated with MDA or this
project/contract. This clause does not preclude other agencies from entering into separate
agreements with the Contractor in accordance with OPSCR in-state cooperative procurement
rules and regulations.
1.28 Right to Consider Historical Information
MDA reserves the right to consider historical information regarding the Offeror, whether gained
from the Offeror's proposal, conferences with Offeror, references, or any other source during
the evaluation process. This may include, but is not limited to, information from any state or
federal regulatory entity.
1.29 Mandatory Letter of Intent
Respondents must submit a Letter of Intent to respond to this RFP no later than 10:00 A.M
CDT, July 17, 2026, to osss@dfa.ms.gov. The subject of the email should be "Asian Regional
Office Representative RFP RFx # 3120003342 - Letter of Intent". Respondents who do not
submit a Letter of Intent by the established deadline will be disqualified from responding to the
RFP.
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SECTION 2: Scope of Services and Other Requirements
2.1 Scope of Services
This RFP contemplates that the Agency will contract with the successful Respondent to be the
professional service consultant for the MDA and its Programs and the principal advisor and
provider for the following specified services: The Contractor will perform the following
services upon request of the AUTHORITY in fulfillment of the purposes of this Contract. The
services will include, but not be limited to:
2.1.1 The Contractor will provide the Authority/State of Mississippi with full-time
representation in Asia (focused primarily on, but not limited to, Japan, Korea, Taiwan,
Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and India) to recruit foreign direct investment to
Mississippi and to promote the export of Mississippi products to Asia. The Contractor
must be based in one of the focused countries and be willing to travel to other Asian
countries as approved by the Authority for recruiting and trade activities. The
Contractor will focus on recruiting Asian firms in the automotive, aerospace, defense,
and advanced manufacturing sectors - and associated supply chains - as primary
targets for recruitment. Other industries for recruitment include metals, chemicals and
energy, food processing, warehousing and distribution, and forestry. The Contractor
will also work on behalf of the Authority and Mississippi businesses to expand market
opportunities for the export of Mississippi products and services from a wide range of
industries to Asia.
This service will include (i) developing knowledge of Mississippi assets with respect
to geography, existing industries, exporters, communities and industrial sites,
workforce, and research assets and incentives and (ii) developing a recruitment plan
and an export promotion plan in partnership with the Authority based on the target
sectors to include business missions, virtual business missions, a calling program to
meet with existing and new investors, seminars, exhibitions, and other activities for
the recruitment and identification of prospective investors.
To achieve the primary stated objectives, the Contractor shall provide services outlined in the
remainder of this Section.
2.2 Investment Recruitment and Promotion:
2.2.1 The Contractor will engage in a proactive program of outreach to Asian companies to
promote the state to potential investors. The Contractor will develop a minimum of
12 new investment prospect leads per contract year by identifying companies within
Asia that have the potential and intention to begin or expand business operations in
the United States, and to provide them with the information, resources and other
assistance that will lead them to consider Mississippi as an ideal location for their
investment.
2.2.2 The Contractor will assist the Authority with qualified appointments for up to two
annual investment missions to Asia to directly support Mississippi's foreign direct
investment recruiting program. Each mission to Asia may include business meetings
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